shut

[ shuht ]

/ ʃʌt /

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See synonyms for: shut / shutting on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), shut, shut·ting.

to put (a door, cover, etc.) in position to close or obstruct.

to close the doors of (often followed by up): to shut up a shop for the night.

to close (something) by bringing together or folding its parts: Shut your book. Shut the window!

to confine; enclose: to shut a bird into a cage.

to bar; exclude: They shut him from their circle.

to cause (a factory, school, etc.) to end or suspend operations, services, or business activity: He shut his store, sold his house, and moved away.We're shutting the office for two weeks in June.

to bolt; bar.

verb (used without object), shut, shut·ting.

to become shut or closed; close.

adjective

closed; fastened up: a shut door.

Phonetics. checked (def. 2).

noun

the act or time of shutting or closing.

the line where two pieces of welded metal are united.

Verb Phrases

shut down,

to close, especially temporarily; end or suspend operations, services, or business activity.
to stop operating or stop the operation of (a machine): Did you remember to shut down your computer?
Also shut down on / upon .Informal. to hinder; check; stop from doing or saying something: He appeared on the talk show to shut down his critics.
Informal. to defeat or outdo:The team was able to shut down the offense.
to settle over a place so as to envelop or darken it: The fog shut down rapidly.

shut in,

to enclose.
to confine, as from illness: She broke her leg in a fall and has been shut in for several weeks.

shut of, Informal. free of; rid of: He wished he were shut of all his debts.

shut off,

to stop the passage of (water, traffic, electricity, etc.); close off.
to isolate; separate: an outpost almost completely shut off from civilization.

shut out,

to keep from entering; exclude.
to hide from view.
to prevent (an opponent or opposing team) from scoring, as in a game of baseball.

shut up,

to imprison; confine.
to close entirely.
Informal. to stop talking; become silent (often used as a rude command): Just sit down and shut up! I thought the neighbors would never shut up and let me sleep.
Informal. to stop (someone) from talking; silence.
Informal. (used to express disbelief or astonishment): You dated her in high school? Shut up!

OTHER WORDS FOR shut

4 jail, imprison, cage.

5 prohibit.

See synonyms for shut on Thesaurus.com

OPPOSITES FOR shut

1 open.

See antonyms for shut on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

ALL IN FAVO(U)R OF THIS BRITISH VS. AMERICAN ENGLISH QUIZ

There's an ocean of difference between the way people speak English in the US vs. the UK. Are your language skills up to the task of telling the difference? Let's find out!

Question 1 of 7

True or false? British English and American English are only different when it comes to slang words.

true

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Origin of shut

First recorded before 1000; Middle English s(c)hutten, s(c)hetten, s(c)hitten Old English scyttan “to bolt (a door)”; akin to shoot¹

synonym study for shut

1. See close.

OTHER WORDS FROM shut

half-shut, adjectivere·shut, verb, re·shut, re·shut·ting.un·shut, adjective

Words nearby shut

shunt-wound, shura, shush, Shushan, Shuswap, shut, shutdown, Shute, shuteye, shut-in, shutoff

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use shut in a sentence

Instead, insurers refused to pay, and Century 21 is shutting down after almost 60 years in business.
Got interruption insurance? These companies found it’s useless in the age of COVID-19|Bernhard Warner|September 12, 2020|Fortune
A day after Shanghai Disneyland’s closure, Hong Kong Disneyland shut down.
How the coronavirus outbreak is roiling the film and entertainment industries|Alissa Wilkinson|September 11, 2020|Vox
Then on Sunday, Mayor London Breed shut down not just the Great Highway but the parking lots along Ocean Beach.
The Climate Crisis Is Happening Right Now. Just Look at California’s Weekend.|by Elizabeth Weil|September 9, 2020|ProPublica
Heeding the advice of public health experts, they quickly shut down businesses, enacted shelter-in-place orders, and built up testing and contact tracing capacity.
In defense of California|James Temple|September 4, 2020|MIT Technology Review

Major Hollywood movie studios largely shut down film production in March.
Will ‘Tenet’ revive U.S. movie theaters as it’s finally released?|dzanemorris|September 3, 2020|Fortune
And the series was implausibly shut out by both the Golden Globe and SAG Awards.
‘The Comeback’ Finale: Give Lisa Kudrow All of the Awards|Kevin Fallon|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A train had actually arrived at the station but its doors were already shut.
Alleged Cop Killer Ismaaiyl Brinsley Had a Death Wish|M.L. Nestel|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“I was really sexually inexperienced, really sexually shut down,” she explained.
Dungeons and Genital Clamps: Inside a Legendary BDSM Chateau|Ian Frisch|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And so it was that the federal government did not shut down just when we all had visions of sugar plumbs dancing in our heads.
Congress’ Gift That Keeps on Giving|P. J. O’Rourke|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Human trials of the Ebola vaccine have been temporarily shut down due to adverse side effects.
Uh Oh: Ebola Vaccine Trials Stop|Leigh Cowart|December 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Another crash, which nearly shut up his spine like a telescope, told him that there were no wings.
The Giant of the North|R.M. Ballantyne
After his death crowds flocked to his grave to touch his holy monument, till the authorities caused the church yard to be shut.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
The gnarled hands shut up into clenched fists, and the feeble voice trailed off in an agonized moan.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
He shut his fist and hit Butterface a weak but well intended right-hander on the nose.
The Giant of the North|R.M. Ballantyne
The Professor went straight home and shut himself up in his study.
Uncanny Tales|Various

British Dictionary definitions for shut

shut

/ (ʃʌt) /

verb shuts, shutting or shut

to move (something) so as to cover an aperture; closeto shut a door

to close (something) by bringing together the partsto shut a book

(tr often foll by up) to close or lock the doors ofto shut up a house

(tr; foll by in, out, etc) to confine, enclose, or excludeto shut a child in a room

(tr) to prevent (a business, etc) from operating

shut one's eyes to to ignore deliberately

shut the door on

to refuse to think about
to render impossible

adjective

closed or fastened

noun

the act or time of shutting

the line along which pieces of metal are welded

get shut of or get shot of slang to get rid of

See also shutdown, shut-off, shutout, shut up

Word Origin for shut

Old English scyttan; related to Old Frisian sketta to shut in, Middle Dutch schutten to obstruct

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with shut

shut

In addition to the idioms beginning with shut

shut down
shut off
shut one's eyes to
shut out
shut the door
shut up

also see:

close (shut) down
close (shut) one's eyes to
close (shut) the door on
keep one's mouth shut
open and shut case
put up or shut up

shut

OTHER WORDS FOR shut

OPPOSITES FOR shut

Origin of shut

synonym study for shut

OTHER WORDS FROM shut

Words nearby shut

Words related to shut

How to use shut in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for shut

Word Origin for shut

Other Idioms and Phrases with shut